Citygarden | Kids Out and About St. Louis <

Citygarden

Address: 
801 Market Street
St. Louis , MO , 63101
Phone: 314-241-3337
38° 37' 36.048" N, 90° 11' 37.3452" W
Contact name: 
Citygarden
Business/organization type: 
Seasons / holidays: 
Ages for which our activities are most appropriate: 
Citygarden is an urban park and sculpture garden owned by the City of St. Louis but maintained by the Gateway Foundation. Covering 2 city blocks in downtown St. Louis, the park is open year-round with no admission fee.

Citygarden features two dozen works of modern and contemporary sculpture by som of the world's highly regarded artists.  They include Fernand Leger, Mark di Suvero, Keith Haring, Martin Puryear, Jim Dine, Tony Smith, and Aristide Maillol. 

The sculptures have been sited in a gorgeously landscaped space designed by Nelson Byrd Woltz, of Charlottesville, Va., which also designed the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa., among other award-winning projects. Warren Byrd, principal, calls the project “by far the most important and interesting urban project we have ever worked on.”

The landscaping features imaginative uses of water and stone that play off of the region’s chief natural feature, its great rivers; Citygarden is in the shadow of the Gateway Arch and within walking distance of the Mississippi River. The landscaping also features diverse, lush plantings, selected and arranged both to complement the sculpture and to provide a beauty and power of their own. A strong emphasis on native plants and six rain gardens, among other features, locate the garden in the horticultural vanguard. The garden represents a partnership between the City of St. Louis, which owns the land, and the non-profit, St. Louis-based Gateway Foundation, which had provided the funding — including an estimated $25-$30 million for design and construction and “soft” costs like insurance and maintenance. The cost of the sculpture, which is and will remain owned by the Foundation, is separate.

 

In addition to its sculpture and magnificent plantings, the garden features remarkable hardscape, including a 550-foot long arcing limestone wall enclosing a large video wall for video art and movies; a glass-walled café; and a stunning, serpentine “meander wall” capped in polished granite. Its water features include a six-foot waterfall and a spray plaza, where 102 nozzles will shoot water as much as six feet into the air in thousands of patterns and colors — and where children can play. 

Educational audio tours and print materials are available.

 

 

Hours

Citygarden shares the same hours as all parks in the St. Louis Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry: sunrise to 10 pm. Citygarden is open to the public every day, and admission is free.

 

Joe's Chili Bowl at the Terrace View serves lunch and dinner seven days a week. Hours are 10am til close. To learn more about the menu call 314-241-7070 or click here.

 

Maps

Citygarden is located in downtown St. Louis, between 8th Street to the east and 10th Street to the west, and Chestnut Street to the north and Market Street to the south.

For a map of Citygarden's location on Google Maps, click here.

For a map of Citygarden itself, click here.